Transport for the North Monthly Operating Report February 2020 1 Contents Page Introduction Summary from the Chief Executive 3 Programme Summary Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) 4-6 Integrated & Smart Ticketing (IST) 6-8 Strategic Development Corridors (SDCs) 9-10 Strategic Rail 10-12 Operations Summary 12-15 Financial Performance Financial Update 16-17 Activity Dashboard 18 HR Update 19 KPIs (Key Performance 20-23 Indicators) 2 Introduction Summary from the Chief Executive February saw the escalation of the threat to Transport for the North’s operations from the Coronavirus and this has continued into March. In common with its Constituent Authorites, Transport for the North has undertaken a contingency planning exercise, based on existing business continuity arrangements, to address the challenges posed both by the virus itself, and the steps that might be taken to help control the outbreak. At the time of writing: • The Rail North Partnership, with TfN input, is working very closely with the two main northern train operating companies to continue to run services and mitigate against the impact of Coronavirus – passenger numbers have fallen significantly already as people choose not to travel; • TfN has moved to remote working (on 17 March) in line with Government guidance issued on the 16 March; and • TfN meetings such as the Board meeting on 29 April will be kept under review and moved to consultative conference calls if necessary The Oakervee Review was released on 11 February and on the same day Government announced the decision to complete HS2 in full. As part of the announcement, Government stated its intention to develop an Integrated Rail Plan for the Midlands and the North. The initial TfN response to the Integrated Rail Plan was presented for consideration at the 12 March Board. Following the announcement in February that Northern would come under the control of DfT’s Operator of Last Resort, Arriva Rail North’s operations transferred to ‘Northern Trains Ltd’, a subsiduary of of the Operator of Last Resort from 1 March. The Rail North Partnership team will continue to work with the DfT in the same way it has previously, managing the contract, which is now a new Services Agreement with Northern Trains. Northern Trains have appointed a new managing director, Nick Donovan, replacing David Brown. They are now developing a 100-day plan setting out how they intend to improve services in the short, medium and long term. TfN has completed the development of the Disruption Messaging Tool (part of Phase 2 of the Integrated and Smart Ticketing programme) and it is scheduled to go live in March 2020. TfN provided a submission to the budget focussing on the need to overhaul the Green Book approach to investment decsision making, the need for NPR to be funded in full, and the push for a devolved northern transport budget. 3 Programme Summary Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) Monthly Summary The NPR programme team is continuing to progress Sequence 4, which will result in an updated business case by the end of 2020. The Government released the Oakervee Review of HS2 on the 11 February and has announced its intention to complete the HS2 network in full. However, a further assessment of Phase 2b is to be undertaken by the National Infrastructure Commission, the findings of which will feed into the development of the Integrated Rail Plan for the Midlands and North. Ministers have emphasised that the review should not delay the NPR programme which continues to progress as planned. Activity Update The NPR team has continued to work closely with Network Rail to ensure that partners are briefed in relation to emerging evidence on the Manchester – Sheffield corridor ahead of the sift on 28 May 2020 that will support decision making. Further, a focus has remained on the Manchester - Leeds corridor to ensure the 4+4 development is included in the sift workshops. The 4+4 development includes integrating a new line via Bradford with connections to Huddersfield (Scenario 1) and a new line to Brighouse and connections to Bradford and Huddersfield (Scenario 2). Lastly, the NPR programme team and Network Rail continue to work together to address Capacity Analysis issues on the Leeds – Newcastle corridor to ensure all information required for sifting is available. The Northern Rail Modelling System (NoRMS) Iteration 1b, which is to be used for sifting, is now complete and being used to undertake model runs in preparation for sift workshops. Iteration 2 of NoRMS will be ready for peer review at the start of June, with the model being ready for use by the end of June. The analysis undertaken on Iteration 2 will support Strategic Outline Case (SOC) development and decision making within TfN. The current forecast NPR related TAME expenditure of £3.02m for FY19/20 is 26% below the forecast for the year. This is due in part to the delays in the commissioning and contracting of work packages and, therefore, TAME programme commencement. Consequently, the projects have had to flex parts of their scope to ensure critical SOC activities are achieved. Current scope is therefore forecast for completion early FY20/21, and currently the forecast expenditure associated with this in FY20/21 is approximately £750k. This will be funded from the FY20/21 budget. 4 Whilst maintaining its focus on the delivery of remitted Sequence 4 (SOC) work, the team is actively developing the remits for two further projects that are to commence in FY20/21: - Sequence 4.1 – reprioritised activity from FY19/20 & network wide activity. - Pre-Sequence 5 – Procurement requirements for Sequence 5 (Outline Business Case) and identification/specification/delivery of advanced Sequence 5 (OBC) development. A high-level plan for engagement activity to support the SOC development has been developed, aligned with key decision points and governance dates. The Engagement team is currently planning this in more detail, including production of relevant materials with partners to help set the local context for engagement activities. The plan will be presented at the next working group (26 March 2020) and contact will be made shortly with partners concerning proposed dates. Risks Risk/Issue Summary Summary of Mitigating Measures KPI Piccadilly Station Options Independent review of development work and KPI 1 Issue: More work needs to be done conclusions to date by Richard George is complete to better reflect views raised by local and will be presented at TfN Board on 12.03.20. authority partners on proposed The review will incorporate the Oakervee review station options for Manchester conclusions and the recently published Bechtel Piccadilly. report. Following TfN Board endorsement, Piccadilly interfaces will become an input into the wider Phase 2b review. Stourton Junction TfN continues to work with WYCA (and York, KPI 1 Issue: NPR will not get the Sheffield City Region and Leeds Chamber of proposed Stourton junction in the Commerce) in the development/delivery of the HS2 Phase 2b Hybrid Bill, which LCR vision remit, which includes looking at means that NPR may struggle to Stourton and alternatives. An update on Stourton make a positive business case for and next steps will be discussed at TfN Board on the junction to go into the Hybrid 12.03.20 and, following endorsement, will become Bill an input into the wider Phase 2b review. The Northern Infrastructure Fund opportunity included in the Jan MOR has been removed and has been integrated into the TfN Integrated Rail Investment Plan for the North opportunity. Opportunity Summary Summary of Actions/Activity Integrated Rail Plan / High Proposed initial statutory advice has been presented at Speed north TFN Board on 12.03.2020 for agreement. This will then In conjunction with the publication be issued to Government for consideration. of the Oakervee Review, the government announced the full TfN and Partners to continue to seek opportunities to commitment in providing better rail be involved in the scoping and development of the connectivity between London and integrated rail plan. the North, ensuring the passengers of the North of England benefit from opportunities for economic development and prosperity by considering the integration of HS2 5 Phase2b and Northern Powerhouse Rail. An opportunity exists for TfN and NPR to influence central government to gain the full commitment and funding in the realisation of the High Speed North.” Programme and look ahead Consider approach to Piccadilly & Stourton (TfN Board) Mar 2020 Corridor sifting workshops complete May 2020 Agree scope and outline of SOC refresh Jun 2020 Agree shortlist of corridor options to be progressed (Phase 1), July 2020 Agree the current preference on these corridors, Agree the aggregation of these corridor preferences into the current preferred network, subject to network-wide tests, Note SOC 1st Partial Draft (TfN Board) Agree shortlist of corridor options to be progressed (Phase 2), Sep 2020 Confirm current preferred network, agree current preferred phasing plan Note SOC near final draft (TfN Board) Nov 2020 Agree SOC (TfN Board) Jan 2021 Integrated and Smart Travel (IST) Monthly Summary Development of the Disruption Messaging Tool, carried out as part of Phase 2, has completed and it will go live with Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) in the first instance in March. Development of the prototype development phase (alpha phase) of the Fares Tool is on schedule to complete at the end of March. Discussions have been held with DfT, LTAs (Local Transport Authorities) and the bus companies about the development of local smart ticketing schemes (Phase 4). A governance mechanism is under consideration with DFT and the preparation of a Strategic Outline Case has started. Informal discussions with LTAs continue, pending the development of the formal mechanisms for taking Schemes forward. Work continues to roll-out flexi-seasons on a trial basis (Phase 1).